Flu is Here in Palm Beach County: Patients Test Positive for Influenza at Several Local MD Now Urgent Care Walk-in Medical Center Locations(they are not sub- typing this flu to find out what strain it is)


Boca Raton, FL, September 15, 2011 --(PR.com)-- As one of the largest providers of walk-in urgent care medical services in South Florida, MD Now Urgent Care Center’s medical staff had barely been administering the 2011/2012 all-in-one seasonal influenza vaccine to patients, employees and local businesses for less than a month when the center suddenly began seeing its first cases of the flu. In the past, flu season was typically expected to begin in October or November, yet each year it seems to be arriving earlier and earlier. This year was no different.

“We had three patients test positive yesterday, and two today. And I know that we saw several flu patients over the weekend. And they were sick, sick, sick!” says Laurie Kardon, MD, MPH, an urgent care physician working at MD Now’s Boca Raton urgent care location.

The flu, more scientifically known as influenza, is a highly contagious respiratory infection caused by influenza viruses. When a person with the flu coughs or sneezes, the virus becomes an airborne contagion – waiting to be inhaled by anyone nearby. The risk of infection is greater in highly populated areas like schools, subways and crowded urban settings. You can also get the flu by touching a contaminated surface like a telephone or a door knob, and then touching your nose or mouth. The influenza virus usually enters the body through mucus membranes in the mouth, nose or eyes.

http://www.pr.com/press-release/353488